CLANG echoed harshly through the chamber, like a cannon firing point blank into a gong. Monica had stalled the Arcaknight, if only for a moment, as its uprisen mace came right back down on the space between its own shoulders in an effort to stop her from getting to its head. Or perhaps more accurately, just to stop her entirely. Whether the actual strike hit the catgirl or not, it bears mention that the Arcaknight's own armor went unscathed.

It also bears mention that Teric and Aeraul, for all Monica's distracting tendencies, did not go unnoticed. While the Arcaknight had no visible eyes -- or even a visible face, for that matter -- it was patently obvious that it was glaring at both of them...

...and then came the small, cyclopian flicker of light from one corner of its pitch black visor to the other.

The Arcaknight buckled to one knee when Teric slammed into it, but that seemed to go well with whatever plan it had formed. Its massive shield was brought into place over the other knee, and Aeraul landed on it hard enough that for all of a split second, the half-orc was literally crouched sideways against gravity with his dao sparking off the rim of the Arcaknight's shield.

This was also the amount of time it took for the Arcaknight to twirl its mace upside down in hand, then drive it straight down. Over the shield and into the half-man crouching on it. Aeraul went down without so much as a scream; only a little spurt of blood from his mouth and the sound of ancient stone giving out where living bone would not. At the same time, the Arcaknight shoved its way upright and swung out with its shield -- like a golemic wrecking ball. The target this time was Teric. A hit probably would've meant a trip all the way across the chamber.

Then the Arcaknight stood, wobbling a little as though offbalanced by the strike to its knee. By then, Aeraul was starting to sit up, though his chin was covered in blood from whatever injuries he'd taken during his impromptu landing.

Football doesn't exist on Althanas, at least not yet. If it did, Teric and Monica (and possibly Aeraul, when the stars finally clear from his eyes) would've recognized the kick to follow as a right and true punt. It was delivered with a great deal more speed than something the size of the Arcaknight should've been capable of, but it was still just slow enough that anyone watching would've had ample time to see Aeraul's entire body all but contort around the thing's metal shoe. He went flying all the way into the wallspace above the chained door, hit the stone with enough spare force to send a spiderweb's worth of lines cracking into it, then fell back down to the floor with an ungainly thud.

Needless to say, brute force wasn't going to win this one.